Abstract
IntroductionAromatic (ar-) turmerone is a major bioactive compound of the herb Curcuma longa. It has been suggested that ar-turmerone inhibits microglia activation, a property that may be useful in treating neurodegenerative disease. Furthermore, the effects of ar-turmerone on neural stem cells (NSCs) remain to be investigated.MethodsWe exposed primary fetal rat NSCs to various concentrations of ar-turmerone. Thereafter, cell proliferation and differentiation potential were assessed. In vivo, naïve rats were treated with a single intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of ar-turmerone. Proliferative activity of endogenous NSCs was assessed in vivo, by using noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and the tracer [18F]-fluoro-L-thymidine ([18F]FLT), as well as ex vivo.ResultsIn vitro, ar-turmerone increased dose-dependently the number of cultured NSCs, because of an increase in NSC proliferation (P < 0.01). Proliferation data were supported by qPCR-data for Ki-67 mRNA. In vitro as well as in vivo, ar-turmerone promoted neuronal differentiation of NSCs. In vivo, after i.c.v. injection of ar-turmerone, proliferating NSCs were mobilized from the subventricular zone (SVZ) and the hippocampus of adult rats, as demonstrated by both [18F]FLT-PET and histology (P < 0.05).ConclusionsBoth in vitro and in vivo data suggest that ar-turmerone induces NSC proliferation. Ar-turmerone thus constitutes a promising candidate to support regeneration in neurologic disease.
Highlights
Aromatic turmerone is a major bioactive compound of the herb Curcuma longa
Effects on neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation in vitro To assess the effects of ar-turmerone on NSC in primary culture, rat fetal NSC were grown in the presence of various concentrations of ar-turmerone for 72 hours
With the BrdU-incorporation assay, we investigated whether this increase in NSC number was caused by an increase in NSC proliferation
Summary
Aromatic (ar-) turmerone is a major bioactive compound of the herb Curcuma longa. It has been suggested that ar-turmerone inhibits microglia activation, a property that may be useful in treating neurodegenerative disease. The effects of ar-turmerone on neural stem cells (NSCs) remain to be investigated. Curcumin and ar-turmerone are the major bioactive compounds of the herb Curcuma longa. Many studies have demonstrated curcumin to possess antiinflammatory and neuroprotective properties (reviewed by [1]), to date, the effects of ar-turmerone remain to be elucidated. Because microglia activation is a hallmark of neuroinflammation and is associated with various neurologic disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases [6,7] and stroke [8,9], The regenerative potential of endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) plays an important role in neurodegenerative disease and stroke. NSCs and microglia relevantly interact with each other, thereby affecting their respective functions [16,17]
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